Wings of Fire: Whisper of Darkness
by FoxyDrag
Summary: The search for his father takes Windwhisper to Jade Academy, with dragons everywhere Wind keeps to himself, neglecting his winglet. Within the first few days he is visited by a strange being in an alternate universe of Jade Mountain. He bargains to help the being in return for his father's whereabouts. But could this be the beginning of the end... for Jade Mountain?
1. Chapter 1

It was only dawn, one hours flight to Jade Mountain. A young dragonet; Windwhisper had chosen to enrol in its academy, but not for knowledge. _One hours flight._ The young NightWing beard a locket, a satchel and a strangely clean set of scales. _Soon I will find him, I have to_. Windwhisper reached out to his satchel almost jumping when a sudden yell of dragonets filled the air, a set of SkyWings were joking and laughing about something, something Windwhisper didn't hear, and didn't care about. _Who would ever be excited for school_ ' After gathering his items Windwhisper flexed his wings and took off into the air. He peered around the area until he saw Jade Mountain in the distance. He began flying towards it. _It I don't find any answers here, then I must ask more questions_. Nothing bothered him as much as other dragons getting into his business, especially with what he was doing right now. He could imagine the questions he'd be asked. _What're you doing at Jade Academy?_ Or. _Why would a NightWing like you be here? Aren't you supposed to be smart?_ But he would ignore them. Keep himself to himself. Lost in thought Windwhisper lost focus of his surroundings, and the dragon flying closer to him. It got closer.. and closer, until.

"HEY!" A voice strung into his ears, a very high-pitched one, almost annoying. "I CAN'T STOP!" It yelped out again as he realised an incoming RainWing. _What the.._ The RainWing came crashing into him, knocking them both out of the air, and onto the ground.

"WATCH IT!" Windwhisper roared at the RainWing, their scales vibrated various colours as they laughed and giggled.

"I'm sorry about that." The RainWing blurted out after they'd calmed down, it seemed fairly thin, though he hadn't ever met a RainWing so how would he know. "I'm Juniper!" Her voice almost squeaked out. She trotted circles around Windwhisper. "And you're a NightWing!"

"Yes, I am." Windwhisper spoke but inside he thought else. _Well done, you know what a NightWing looks like._ "Anyway, lovely meeting you but I'm off somewhere." He turned around almost leaving before Juniper stopped him.

"Excuse me! You didn't tell me your name." She reminded him. _Oh three moons, do i have to?_

"I'm Windwhisper, but you can call me Wind." He let out a sigh. The RainWing didn't catch onto this as she bounced around ecstatically.

"Oh! Oh! Does it mean you 'whisper' to the 'wind'?" She continued to grow more excited and vibrant in colour. Windwhisper's expression turned into one of annoyance.

"No, it doesn't." He spoke bluntly. He tried to move onward towards Jade Mountain before he was stopped again.

"You're my age right! Jade Academy right?" The RainWing chimed out. _When will her annoying voice end?_

"Of course." He replied dimly. _Don't tell her why you're here Windwhisper_. "And to learn." _This RainWing better be dumb enough to fall for th-_.

"ME TO!" The RainWing's loud voice cut through his thoughts as she bounced around evenmore. _Oh my moons, she actually believed it._ A small raven fluttered down and landed on Windwhisper's head. The RainWing looked like she was going to explode with excitement as her scales kept brightening in a yellowish colour. Windwhisper quickly leapt away from the RainWing, the raven clutching onto his head. Soon later he stopped.

"I think we got away." He spoke out to the crow. "Now what?" He asked it. "Are you going to transform or stay silent little crow?" As if on cue, the raven flew a few feet away and started to glow brightly, soon shaping into a dragon, a NightWing.

"You have zero patience." The NightWing muttered. "Also, I was a raven! Not a crow! Silly thing." She muttered to herself. Windwhisper sighed out loud.

"You know it's difficult when you can turn into both of them." He huffed, he then made sure he had everything with him and began walking towards Jade Mountain again. The other NightWing turned back into a raven and flew onto his back this time. "You really like my back." He told it. _I won't have you following me around soon._

More later on in the day they had arrived at Jade Academy, flocks of many different kinds of dragons were there. SkyWings, SeaWings, MudWings, but not many NightWings. One large SkyWing began approaching Windwhisper. They had one long scar down their side.

"Welcome to Jade Academy!" They greeted, Windwhisper bowed slightly, greeting them back. "Are you Animorph?" The SkyWing asked. Getting a slight shake of his head as a little voice peeped out.

"I am." The raven flew of his back and turned into a NightWing again. "I am Animorph, pleasure to meet you." She greeted with a large smile. The SkyWing nodded slightly.

"And you must be.." The SkyWing ponders for a moment.

"Windwhisper." He told them. A gush of wind suddenly blows against the three. Both the SkyWing and Animorph eye him. "I didn't do that." He stated.

"Well lucky for you two, you aren't clawmates." The SkyWing states in a positive tone. "You both have different clawmates as well as different winglets."

The expressions on the two NightWings said it all. _Oh no, please don't tell me I'm with that annoying RainWing._

"Animorph you are allocated to cave number twenty-four, on hall number seven. We even put little signs in case you got lost." The SkyWing explained. "I will see you in the hall later when we put you into winglets." Animporh smiled and into Jade Academy. "As for you."

"Quick question. What are winglets?" Windwhisper asked. The SkyWing let off a small chuckle.

"Don't worry about that. You'll see soon." The SkyWing replied heartily. "You are in room number seventy-four, on hall eight." She read off of a scroll, she seemingly had many more somewhere. Windwhisper pondered to himself before entering Jade Academy. _So this is it. My search starts here._


	2. Chapter 2

Inside the premises seemed more crowded than the outside. This time, filled with smaller dragonets, more his age. Animorph was already looking around, trying to map out where everything was inside the mountain. Windwhisper kept close to her, not wanting any unnecessary contact with any other dragonet. I hope that RainWing doesn't-. A loud, high-pitched and to Windwhisper; extremely annoying echoed.

"IT'S YOU!" It squealed. _Oh no._ Windwhisper turned around towards the source of the noise and... nothing. The RainWing he thought was there wasn't in the room. In fact there were no RainWings there. What was that? He pondered. He darted his eyes around, hoping to find some kind of owner of the voice, but no dragonets looked like they'd tried to talk to him.

"Odd." Windwhisper mumbled to himself, only to be heard by Animorph. She looked at him with a questioning look. Windwhisper turned to her, slightly puzzled. "Did you hear something right now?" He asked.

"No, but i heard you." Was all she answered with, it seemed someone must've been playing kind of prank, but if Animorph didn't hear it, then what was it? "Did 'you' hear something?" Her look becoming more questioning.

"Yeah, I did." He looked around again, yet again, no dragonet looked like they were trying to communicate with him. "Maybe I'm just crazy." This earned a small chuckle from Animorph.

"Maybe you are." She turned again, leaving the main hall towards a hallway labelled 'Library'. Then it came again... **Try not to act crazy, I'm in your head after all. I'm so glad you came here.** The voice went on, it seemed feminine as far as Windwhisper could tell. _Who? What? Are you?_ He asked in his head. **Ha! Silly thing, I'm your key, your key to-.** Then it was gone. _Key to what?_ Alerted by the voice in his head he looked around again... Nothing. I can't be crazy, I swear I heard a voice. "Come on Wind!" Called out Animorph from down the hallway. He then scurried down to catch up with her.

"So, about those 'clawmates', do I have to put up with them?" He complained, solemnly walking alongside Animorph. "I'd hate to put up with them." He complained again. Animorph sighed slightly at this.

"Yes, yes you do." She stopped in her tracks, they had entered the library. Looking around, scrolls and books were scattered everywhere, shelves stacked to the brim with old and new looking scrolls. Small seating areas planted all about, some made especially for certain tribes. It was as if for a moment, Windwhisper nearly smiled. Through his neglectfulness was a small bit of heart for literature. He would always sneak out to get scrolls to read. "I thought you didn't smile." A light chuckle emitted from Animorph, who was also smiling.

"This is.. Amazing." Windwhisper hopped around the shelves looking for scrolls he could read. He stopped at one book. "Look!" He stared at a book labelled 'The Wind Princess'. "That one was about the fabled Princess Hurricane!" He blurted out like an excited child. Animorph took a few steps closer to it.

"I guess you like that one." She took it from the shelf and opened it. "I've never heard of Princess Hurricane." She mouthed to herself. That's because she died a century ago. Windwhisper looked along more bookshelves, until something, someone, caught his eye. Hiding near a hallway was a clear white, small NightWing. However, when he blinked, it was gone. Quickly he gazed around the library, but it wasn't there. What was that? A small tap on his shoulder broke him from this thought. "Come on." Animorph had already placed the book back. "Let's go to the Main Hall, that odd blind librarian said we'd be put in Winglets soon." Oh I forgot.

"I better not be with that RainWing, I don't want to play Coconut Roulette with her." He spoke sternly, his mind still lingered on that NightWing he saw. _Maybe I'll see it in the hall, during the Winglet session._ Almost ignoring Animorph he began to tread back to the hall, bumping into a cold blur.

"HEY WATCH IT!" The two almost said simultaneously. In front of his was a very vexed IceWing, her expression almost as cold as the actual cold that came off her. Though her stance seemed formal, her expression was not. The scariness was only added by the long jagged scar down her eye, but more like through her eye, if it was even there. It began to growl at him, almost uncontrollably. "Do you know who I am?!" Coyly, Windwhisper looked at Animorph who shrugged, and looked back.

"If I'm honest I have no clue." He shrugged at it. Silence followed. The IceWing scoffed slightly. Oh dear!

"I! AM THE HEIRESS!" She quickly paused. "You know what, nevermind," She swished around and stormed off.

"Geez, talk about being given the 'cold' shoulder." Animorph spoke from behind, smirking slightly, earning a blank look from Windwhisper. "What! I thought it was funny." BONG BONG. A bell sounded. "That must be the warning." Animorph went down the hall, closely followed by Windwhisper. **Just keep listening, hehe, I'll talk again soon** ** _._** _That voice again?! What does it want?_ Soon there was a flock of dragonets crowding around the hall, dragonets of all sorts from all over Phyrria.

"Attention everyone!" A large SkyWing boomed out, it was the SkyWing from the entrance, yet again, holding a clipboard. "My name is Westilles, and from today I welcome you to this prestigious academy for dragonets!" Every dragonet in the room listened with open ears as the SkyWing preached on. "From today you will be placed in Winglets, these Winglets will be comprised of seven dragonets, one from each tribe." One! From each! Windwhisper's heart sank, and he was sure that Animorph's did the same. "Now, I will name each individual from their Winglet. Starting with the Amber Winglet!" Westilles firmly tapped her clipboard, as if scanning down a list. "Bubble!" A small SeaWing's head popped up from the crowd.

"Yes!" The SeaWing called out, making his way to the front, nervousness showing on his snout. He glanced around hesitantly as all the eyes in the hall pierced at him.

"June!" The Westilles called out. A large slim SkyWing aggressively barged their way through the crowd up to the front. "Now that's no way to treat others now is it fair daughter. June sighed, rolling her eyes before walking next to Bubble, who looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

"Hazel!" A small SandWing popped out from the crowd. A small, gold bracelet and rings on its tail glimmering in the light. It said nothing and remained next to Bubble.

"Windwhisper!" _Oh moons why me?_ He quickly got pushed to the front by Animorph who coyly whispered to him.

"Enjoy your new friends bud." She quickly sank back into the crowd. June smirked slightly, but it didn't seem like she meant it in a good way. Bubble and Hazel looked at each other before shrugging. Windwhisper peered over the crowd, searching for the white NightWing, but to no avail. I must be crazy. _Oh well, at least there's a slim chance of me getting stuck with that weird RainWing and annoying IceWing, there's like six others I could be put with._

"Aurora!" Unluckily for WindWhisper, the same IceWing from the hallway came forth, mouthing to herself.

"Cannot believe I was put with you miscreants." She mouthed off to herself, staying as far away from the Winglet as possible. So what now? A MudWing and a RainWing.

"Sediment!" A large brawny MudWing came forth, the entire Winglet backed away at the size of it.

"Ahoy there Winglet!" It politely greeted. For a dragonet so big he sure is... kind. None of the dragonets answered him, except for Bubble who waved excitedly.

"And finally." Windwhisper held his breathing, praying silently. _Please don't be.._ "Juniper!" An excited squeal filled the cave as a vibrating RainWing rocketed to the front of the crowd, bouncing back and forth to each member of the Winglet.

"Well it seems you're all happy with your Winglet, onto the next one, the Onyx Winglet. Starting with, Animorph!" A short period of silence was shortly dismayed as when Animorph came forward a voice boomed out.

"ANIMUS SCUM!" A large, lengthy SkyWing came thrashing forward, heading for Animorph, noticing this Windwhisper intervened the SkyWing. "OUT OF THE WAY!" It roared in his snout.

"Don't you dare, do anything to her, or I will do it back to you, double the pain." Windwhisper threatened, sharpness in his voice as he stood up to the raging SkyWing.

"Hngh! Little punk! Got some bone have you! We'll sort this outside! An Aerial Brawl!" The SkyWing demanded with no hesitation. The crowd murmured and Westilles looked around hesitantly.

"Fine by me." Windwhisper speared back at the SkyWing who smirked and took off. June sat back laughing.

"Dumb NightWing! You just challenged a SkyWing to an air battle!" June chuckled and rolled about even more. "Poor thing, so dumb." Windwhisper wasn't fazed by her words, in fact he was ready to surprise them all, in and aerial brawl.


	3. Chapter 3

When Windwhisper was about to take off and prove his point he was abruptly stopped by Westilles. The large SkyWing bearded a expression that contradicted her completely. The enraged SkyWing turned around from exiting the academy.

"No no you two!" Westilles exclaimed, trying to put a sense of priority into her voice. The SkyWing behind her looked like he was ready to explode in a fit of anger. Westilles turned to him, eyed him down and silently spoke. "It can wait, until tomorrow Mr Blast." Blast, seeming to be reaching the end of his thread let out a giant huff, and stormed off.

"Anyway, Mr Windwhisper I'm afraid you are later for your first class; History!" Westilles spoke smoothly, as if she wasn't too angry that Windwhisper was now truancing. Windwhisper sighed a little and nodded.

"Well at least I won't be the only one late." Windwhisper joked, putting on a slightly panicked expression. "At least my wing-." He was interrupted when Westiles tapped his shoulder lightly.

"Sadly your winglet left moments ago and are already attending class as we speak." Westilles informed him. Windwhisper's heart sank. Quickly, without reply Windwhisper sprinted down the confided hallways, his head darting from left to right; looking for the sign for his class. Soon he found it. _'Phyrrian History'_ read the sign. _This better be it._ Windwhisper slipped through the doorway and into the room. Around the room, heads darted at him. _Great, now I've done it._

"Aahh, Windwhisper yes?" A deep voice echoed from a table. There stood a tall NightWing, who beared similar symbols to Windwhisper, but this time on his neck running down each side. On the table sat a small pale white NightWing, a young dragonet. "Welcome to class! Now, take a scroll off of Lightleaver and sit yourself with your winglet." Windwhisper went forward towards the small dragonet who sat on the desk and saw that she was holding up a scroll. Windwhisper gently took the scroll and looked around to find his winglet. Eventually he found them, but to his disgrace the only seat available was between Juniper and Aurora. _Oh dear, not them._ Reluctantly, Windwhisper stumbled his way up; avoiding eye contact where he could. He slumped himself between the two. Aurora looked onwards towards the front of the room, her head slightly tilted upwards. However Juniper nudged him relentlessly trying to get his attention.

"Wanna play coconut roulette afterwards?" Juniper chirped, continuing to nudge him. "Sediment said he'd play." Juniper looked over to Sediment and so did Windwhisper. Sediment seemed to be looking around aimlessly, as if he wasn't really concentrating.

"Alright class!" The NightWing barked from the front of the class. The attention of the room was on him. "My name is Shadowdancer, and I will be your History teacher for the foreseeable future." The small dragonet nodded in suite with him. "And this is Lightleaver, she is my assistant for this class." Shadowdancer slowly placed his paw on Lightleaver's head and patting it. "Now, open your scrolls!" The room followed his instructions, the flicking of the page sounded around the room. Windwhisper slowly opened his scroll. Inside read _'Phyrrian History- NightWings.'_

"Oooooh Windwhisper, we are learning about you." Juniper whispered to him, lightly nudging him this time. Windwhisper pouted in annoyance. He was tempted to tape her snout shut.

"Now, has anybody here heard about the Azteclians?" Shadowdancer asked the class. Windwhisper looked around, he saw Aurora looking at her scroll looking bored and so did June. Sediment was taping his jaw furiously, as if the answer was on the tip of his tongue. Juniper was still nudging him. Bubble and Hazel seemed to be comparing scales, for a reason unknown to everyone. Windwhisper knew what the Azteclians were, after all, he was one. "Nope?" Shadowdancer spoke out. "Nobody knows?" He checked again, this time he was facing Windwhisper's direction. "There are three of them in this very room." He looked down to Lightleaver who had her forelegs raised up high. She too had symbols, except they were underneath her forelegs. When every dragonet in the room got the idea, they all peered over to Windwhisper, they'd noticed his symbols underneath his eyes and on his forelegs. "Alright, since 'none of you know', I will explain." Shadowdancer turned towards a wall where the map of Phyrria was displayed. He pointed to small island, off the shore, south-east of the RainWing Kingdom. "Can any of you tell me what this island is called?" He asked the class, but since he had glanced at Windwhisper, it was as if he expected him to answer.

"Menagerie." Windwhisper raised his voice so the entire room could hear.

"Correct!" Shadowdancer smiled. "This is Menagerie, now, this island wasn't found until recently." He paused, taking an inked feather and writing on a large scroll pinned on the wall. "So, Menagerie were home to the NightWings that decided to leave their kingdom due to their harsh environment and lack of food." He wrote as he spoke, largely enough for the whole class to see. "They soon came across an island paradise, where they could hunt, live and build an entire civilisation." He then sketched a very accurate map of the island. "Their fabled leader Queen Landseer, thought that wasn't her original name, placed the band of NightWings on this island, in which they named it Menagerie and called themselves the Azteclians. The reason behind that being the strange symbols that started appearing on the hatchlings over the years of hatching." He motioned towards his own set of symbols on his own neck and Lightleaver motioned to hers underneath her forelegs. "Now if you all look at your scrolls that Lightleaver kindly handed out, you will see some more information on them, like past leaders and how they built on the island. As well as their powers, which not much is known about yet." Shadowdancer then moved away from the wall and back to the desk where he began to talk with Lightleaver.

Windwhisper looked at the scroll, it seemed to be everything he already knew about. Queen Landseer, King Landraiser and the small War of Menagerie. He looked back up, then something sounded. **Better keep reading little NightWing, something might be useful in there.** _That voice again!_ Windwhisper darted his gaze in several directions. **I'm not in this room silly.** _A NightWing strong enough to telepathically speak without being in the room?! Impossible!_ Windwhisper looked around again, inspecting each NightWing in the room, none of which seemed to be concentrating on using any type of ability. **Don't worry little one, our paths will cross soon, after all, I know who you're looking for.** Windwhisper froze for a moment. _How?!_ But his thoughts were for nothing, as it seemed the voice had vanished. Time eventually passed slowly.

"Alright! Class dismissed, feel free to keep the scrolls if you please!" Shadowdancer said his goodbyes and let Lightleaver climb onto his back, just before departing from the room. Windwhisper folded up the scroll and placed it in his satchel, he went to leave but Juniper was already in his snout.

"So! Would you like to play coconut roulette? Bubble and Hazel are joining in now."Juniper chirped, her paws tapping the ground. _Oh three moons this RainWing is filled with energy._

"Ermm, maybe later." Windwhisper tried to sound like he really meant it but inside he didn't. Windwhisper took the opportunity to slip away from his Winglet. As he ran down the hall he saw a figure facing towards him; it was Animorph.

"So Wind." She chirped, tapping her talons lightly on the ground. "How was your History lesson?" She tilted her said slightly with a meek smile.

"It was very boring, though our teacher was just like me." Windwhisper informed, looking off into a random direction. "So was his assistant, she was an Azteclian too." Animorph awed for a moment.

"Well." She paused. "Madame Kiwi forced my entire winglet to play the bongos, she said we had very good synchronization." Animorph rolled her eyes lightly, and then she looked nervous. "Sadly, I've got bad news about my winglet." Animorph twisted her foreleg slightly, revealing a claw rake on her leg. Sirens went off in Windwhisper's head, he grew furious in an instant. "It was.." Suddenly and enormous voice boomed throughout the hallway.

"WHERE IS THAT ANIMUS SCUM!" Flares seemed to be coming out of his nostrils. Windwhisper was fuming at this point. He felt a small tug on him.

"Wind please, don't fight him." Animorph begged. But Windwhisper had already made his decision. He snarled as he eyed the enormous, vexed SkyWing, soon he stood right in front of an opening. Windwhisper charged with all his might, feeling his scales flicker as the wind brushed against him. He made contact with the brute, sending him flying out of the cave. The crowd of dragons gasped all at once. Windwhisper ignored this though and bolted outside to confront the SkyWing. As soon as the SkyWing regained his composure he eyed Windwhisper.

"So, the scum got her other scum to fight me! HA!" Blast spat out in a built up rage. Without letting him reply the brute blasted out a heap of fire. Windwhisper maneuvered and swiftly dodged the fire, but it was gaining on him. After spotting a small lake, Windwhisper dived closer to it. A sizzling sound ensued as the fire hit the lake, causing it to puff out smoke. Windwhisper stayed inside the smoke. "You can't hide forever!" Blaze smirked and released another blast of fire, directly hitting inside the smoke causing it to split. Blaze gasped slightly, Windwhisper was not there. The clouds of smoke gradually got closer to him. "What is this?!" He yelped out, confusion bringing out some fear. The smoke surrounded him, soon it set ablaze causing Blaze to yelp a bit in shock. Blaze babbled and trembled as he saw a shadow peering over him, he slowly turned around, finally seeing Windwhisper. Windwhisper was slowly coming out of the fire, his eyes poised and angered.

"You will not lay a TALON on Animorph ever again!" He bellowed at the weeping Blaze. "Or else I will do this again." He clapped his wings together and the fire exploded. This did not affect Windwhisper, but Blaze was sent tumbling down. "Hmmph, vermin." He spat out as he watched Blaze fall, but something caught his attention, coming from his left. He quickly looked left to see a white NightWing coming at him, he couldn't move in time and it hit him, but instead of knocking him back, it went in him. For some reason he felt drowsy, his muscles began to lock up. **Don't worry, it's just me.** He began to tumble to the ground, consciousness dripping away. **After all.** Then his vision went black. **We have a lot, to talk about.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"Wake up!" Demanded a strange voice in the dark. "Wake up!" It demands again. "WAKE!" One final time the voice yelled out. Windwhisper's eyes flickered open, peering around slowly he realised he wasn't in Jade Mountain anymore, or even Phyrria. He shot up in shock, arising onto his talons his head darted all over. The bright vibrant sky was gone, replaced by a purplish smog, not only that, the purplish atmosphere covered every inch of where his eye could see, no sounds could be heard. _What? Where am I!_ He pondered to himself, his heart racing. Looking around, there were no dragons in sight. Upon more inspection he made a stunning realisation, laying on the rocky ground was what seemed like a battleground. Everything's destroyed. _What could this be?_ A longer inspection at the area led him to a mountain, but it seemed so familiar. _Could this be... Jade Mountain?!_ Quickly he traced up the side of the mountain, finding a small opening, the one he knocked Blaze out of. Inside, everything was destroyed, holes in walls, hallways blocked by fallen rocks. _No.. this can't be._

"And it's not." A gentle, feminine voice let out a small sigh afterwards. Windwhisper peered over to the direction of the sound, spotting a strange pearl white NightWing, strangely it had a small glow around it. "Come.. We have a few things to talk about." Just like that the spectral NightWing turned and left down a hallway. _Should I follow it? Well.. it's not like I have much choice here._ Windwhisper decided to follow it, leaving a sizeable gap between him and it. Deeper inside the mountain, the stranger and more different it became. The two reached the Grand Hall, or, what was left of it. Windwhisper's eyes widened open. Inside, deep in this place, was a strange room, the room had no floor, only a bottomless pit that seemed to go on forever. Only floating rocks gathered over the pit. The spectral NightWing had stopped to make sure he was following. "Don't worry about the fall, there's an updraft." It spoke softly and reassuringly. Then it glided softly over to a strange platform. For a minute Windwhisper decided against going towards it. But then he saw something flash through his mind, it was his father. Without thought Windwhisper leaped off the edge, floating calmly through the updraft that led him to the platform.

"What's going on?!" He demanded off the spectral NightWing. "Where-." The NightWing hushed him silently. Looking forward a small doorway appeared.

"I do hope you are okay with flowers." It spoke softly again, in that tone a mother would make when putting their dragonet to sleep. The door creaked open and on the other side was a complete change of scenery. Inside was a luscious patch of grass, neatly placed in lines covered by a stone pavement. "You should remember here." The NightWing started walking onto the stone pavement. Windwhisper looked around some more before making an assumption of where it was.

"This is.. Menagerie Island, my home." Windwhisper said, baffled at the scenery. On the horizon was a lowering source of light, a pink sheet covering the sky, it was truly a wonder to behold, and he could see it everyday. But something that caught his eye was a small podium near the end of the garden. That was never there before. They both wondered over to the small podium and on it was a small, copper brace with a dark blue jewel in the middle of it. Windwhisper didn't seem to pay much attention to it. "What's going on? Who are you!" He demanded. The NightWing flinched backwards at the sudden yell.

"I guess.. this is where I start explaining." The NightWing frowned walking over to what seemed like nowhere until a small table appeared out of thin air. _An animus?! Can't be, but what could do this kind of sorcery?_ "I, am Decipio, and I know where your father is." For a moment Windwhisper was taken aback. My father! She knows? The NightWing slouched down at the table. With a small movement she beckoned him over to sit. Cautiously Windwhisper sat down on the opposite end of the table. "Now, for where you are, you are in an alternate realm of Phyrria, my world of Phyrria. Here I control the very grounds, air and time of day. And for your father, he's trapped, in that brace you saw on the podium." Windwhisper quickly brought his attention to the brace. His father, that close. "To release him you most run me some errands." _Errands? What could this be?_

"And what are you insinuating? What needs to be done?" He demanded desperately. Instead of a reply she handed him a small scroll, inside it was a set of instructions. 'Collect the wind dragon's souls, active each animus touched beacon. Strike the jewel with Boreas' Feather.' "Wait, Boreas' Feather? That exists? I thought that was just-."

"A fairy tale? Young dragonet, all stories come from somewhere. This was no exception." Her tone began to change, leading itself away from the kind, motherly tone. "However, if you chose to accept this, you will not be able to stop. If you leave it too long the jewel will take your soul, if you remove the brace, you will die." _I'll die?_ Windwhisper was stuck in a loop, this could well be the only chance to find his father, but, it could kill him. "So?" Decipio stopped his thoughts. "What will it be?" The brace began to float over, resting gently in front on Windwhisper. Silence fell, Decipio's state seemed to linger, Windwhisper couldn't quite tell what she was thinking or feeling for that matter, just this blank canvas. _Is there even a choice in this matter?_ Windwhisper looked from the brace and back to Decipio.

"Wait." Decipio's head perked up. "If you knew all along, why didn't you tell me earlier?" He asked a bit curious on the subject.

"I have a helper." Decipio began to explain, her tail twitching in an odd manner. "And I can only communicate with you when she is near." Maybe it was that NightWing. "Her name is Misfit, I'm sure you've seen her spying on you already." She smirked lightly. "She tends to do that." Something didn't sit right with Windwhisper. It'd been years since he'd heard a hoot about where his father was. And all of a sudden he gets told this. He gazed around, taking in what used to be his home, Menagerie was such a beautiful island. It was meant to be all for them. He saw something off the coast of the island. A purplish smog looming over what seemed to be another island. He had faint memories of this island. He remembered living there before meeting Animorph. There was something strange about that island. There was something that gave it its name 'Forbidden Island'. Later, when Windwhisper stopped gazing out, he peered back to the brace. The impatient taps of Decipio's talons rang out, she had that 'hurry up' look on her, continuously she tapped the table, huffing and puffing in boredom.

"How can I trust you?" Windwhisper finally asked. Decipio stared at him blankly, her talons stopped tapping.

"You know Windwhisper, you ask a lot of questions." She paused for a moment, shifting her stance to straighten up slightly. "We have a limited time her so I suggest you should hurry up and make a choice, time's a ticking." She began to tap her talons on the table again, almost emulating a clock. Windwhisper needed to decide. Soon he reached out towards the brace in front of him, his talons creeping closer to it, the shaking of his paw made Decipio tut slightly. Then he made contact, a giant flash filled his vision, the brace seemed to have hooked onto his right foreleg. "So it's decided, you'll only have one month to do this, or you die." Her voice sounded more sinister than before, but it didn't last long. "I should let you get back to your friends-."

"They're not my friends!" He quickly butted in, slightly offended that she considered them friends, he despised them already, each one. _Well, maybe Animorph is._

"That's sweet." Decipio spoke coyly. Something about her didn't seem right, she seemed to shift when he put the brace on. She became less agitated. But he didn't have time to question her as a bright flash of light shifted his consciousness. Drowsily he began to awake, he was lying on something soft, a small thin layer on him. He eyes groggily paced themselves around, it soon became clear that he was in the infirmary. Judging by the lack of dragonets it seemed to be night. A solemn light rested on the small sheet on top of Windwhisper. Its ray revealing specks of dust in the air. Pushing the sheet down Windwhisper winced, looking down at himself he saw that a thick bandage had been wrapped around his abdomen, a small patch of blood coating it. _What would Animorph say huh._ But there's was no need to wonder that as a small sniff sounded from the bottom of the infirmary bed, it was Animorph. Her eyes gleamed from the tears, they fell down her cheeks like a waterfall. She limped slightly as she walked, a small bandage was also wrapped around Animorph, on the wound Blast had given her on her foreleg.

"Wind.." She babbled out, tears falling with every little hiccup. She lifted up a talon to wipe her tears away, but to no avail as they kept coming. She limped closer to Windwhisper until they were next to each other. Then she slowly and carefully sat on her haunches and rested her head by his neck, being cautious not to touch his abdomen area.

"It's okay." Windwhisper hushed as he rested a paw on Animorph's head, slowly moving it back and forth as he caressed her head.

"You.. reckless thing.." She babbled out once again. Her hiccups sounded every few seconds. "You plummeted.. at least a hundred feet... you could've.." She went silent, almost as if she didn't want to finish her sentence. "You just stopped and fell.. the first one to react was Hazel surprisingly." _Hazel eh, of all the dragonets._ "He didn't catch you right.. you both tumbled, he thwacked his head on a rock and passed out. And you.. a sharp rock tore into your side.." Again the tears flowed out freely. "I flew over shouting your name... I saw you bleeding and..." Instead of finishing she dug her head into this neck. Letting her tears fall out. _You really took it hard huh._ He didn't know what else to do besides console her, nothing he'd say would make it better for her. Since they met in Phyrria they got closer, almost like siblings. She was never from Menagerie like Windwhisper was. She wasn't sure where she came from. 'I just kinda happened you know.' She would always tell him when he asked. "I'm so glad you're alive.." A quiet whisper broke the silence. Looking over Windwhisper saw Hazel lying in a weird formation on his bed. He strangely had his snake like tongue stuck out with one leg raised up. _Honestly he's so weird_. Windwhisper took in a deep sigh, it seemed Animorph's sobbing had cleared up, but she wasn't moving anytime soon. And neither was he. It had begun, Windwhisper's search was close to its end, but for now, some sleep and healing.


End file.
